From 1959 to today she has been an emblem of female emancipation, the first doll not to inculcate the idea of ​​motherhood as destiny in girls. To then become, with its supermodel measurements, a symbol of non-inclusiveness. While awaiting the interpretation that Greta Gerwig will give, L&#39;Officiel recalls its history.

The July release of the <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/fashion/barbie-premiere-red-carpet-los-angeles-margot-robbie-best-dressed-celebrity-looks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">film " Barbie" by Greta Gerwig</a>, the director of " Lady Bird " and &ldquo; Little Women &rdquo; has rekindled interest in the world's most famous doll &ndash; more than a billion have been sold to date. It was March 9, 1959 when Barbie appeared in American department stores, from an idea of ​​Ruth Handler, wife of the owner Mattel. She wanted to give her daughter a doll that looked like an adult, with which the girls could play "growing up". A first, real alternative to the doll, and therefore to the mother-child role-playing game. The idea of ​​a plastic doll materialized when he saw one, the "Bild Lilli", in 1956 in Switzerland: with blue eyes, blond hair and a woman's body. Back in America, Ruth bought the rights and used it to create the first prototype, but with the standards of American beauty: "I want a teenager, with a narrow waist and hips and boobs". <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/fashion/5-ways-to-rock-the-barbiecore-trend" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie </a>was meant to embody independence and modernity. "When I conceived Barbie, I believed it was important to give girls self-esteem." Barbara Millicent Roberts is her full name, with her 29.2cm in height and 205.2 grams in weight, she entered homes all over the world, suggesting imaginary futures and a new type of femininity.

In 1959 alone, 351,000 were produced and sold. The first was in a pin-up striped <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/fashion/stella-mccartney-the-4-swimsuits-not-to-be-missed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">swimsuit</a>, light skin, black hair gathered in a ponytail and make-up inspired by the shot of Erwin Blumenfeld for the cover of Vogue on January 1, 1950. In the same year, a blond haired version of the doll was also proposed, while 1961 wass the year of the accessory: <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/culture/new-movies-tv-shows-watch-july-2023-barbie-amazon-netflix" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ken Carson</a> , to whom Ruth Handler gives the name of her son Kenneth, a lifelong boyfriend with whom, however, she will never marry. A completely new doll, which tells the story of a different woman, released from the patriarchal model of the family, dedicated to working success. In its 64 years of life it has chosen 156 different careers, evolving with society, and in some cases anticipating it.

<div class="page" title="Page 2" style="text-align: center;"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"> In 1968, it&#39;s the years of the Black Panthers, Christie arrives, the Afro-American Barbie . We will have to wait for 1980 for the Latin one. </div></div></div>

Like when Barbie Astronaut was released in 1965, preceding Neil Armstrong by a few years. In 2012, in conjunction with the US presidential elections, &ldquo; Barbie I can be President&rdquo; was launched , the only Barbie able to stand on her own. From the 1970s, Barbie became a surgeon, waitress, veterinarian, nurse, flight attendant, UNICEF ambassador. In 1968, during the years of the Black Panthers, her friend Christie arrived, the first African-American Barbie. It had to wait until 1980 for the Latin doll to be put on the marketm then 1971 was the year of Barbie Malibu: tanned skin, blonde hair, villa on the Californian coast and a hot pink Corvette ZR1 3ZR.

In 1992 the Totally Hair model was released, still the best-selling model in the world today: hair over 20 centimetres long, to be embellished with eight different types of pins and an <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/fashion/pucci-woman-show-firenze-initials-collection-and-p-photo-look" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Emilio Pucci-</a> inspired dress designed by Carol Spencer. Spencer, fashion designer of Barbie for over 35 years, tells in "Dressing Barbie", a book that collects over 100 photographs of clothes, how close the doll was to reality, also thanks to and through fashion: Barbie was already defined in Sixties &ldquo;Teenage Fashion Model&rdquo;. From the Crisp n' Cool dress, inspired by First Lady Jackie Kennedy, with a red midi skirt and matching handbag, to the red dress worn with a cinched-at-the-waist men's shirt that looked to Barbra Streisand in &ldquo;Funny Girl&rdquo; (1968); from the hugely successful &ldquo;Barbie Country Club&rdquo; with a gold and white striped full skirt, to &ldquo;From Nine To Five&rdquo; &ndash; an explicit reference to the working woman &ndash; with a dark blue dress and black pumps. Finally, the Barbie inspired by Jane Fonda and the aerobics fashion launched in the 80s, with a blue body and hair band that also reached the big screen thanks to the film &ldquo; Toy Story &rdquo;. Barbie has worn a billion dresses , for 980 million meters of fabric. In her closet: Versace, Armani, Moschino, Dior, YSL, Americans Oscar De La Renta, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren. There are many special collections, now collectibles: &ldquo;Barbie De Beers&rdquo;, made by the&nbsp; jeweller with real diamonds, or the '66 &ldquo;Pink Splendor&rdquo; decorated with gold filigree and Swarovski crystals.

In the L'OFFICIEL archive we have found many testimonies of the very close relationship between Barbie and fashion : sartorial dresses moulded on the micro plastic body, such as those created by the designer Jean Patou (her great collector), up to haute couture dresses in a petite version. And again, the Fall 1995 collection by Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld, with bubble gum pink suits and 60s bouffant heads, or the S/S 2015 by Moschino, dedicated precisely to Mattel .

From the 90s to the 2000s, however, Barbie had to deal with a rapidly changing market and accusations of instigating anorexia, so much so that in 1997 the parent company was forced to increase the size of her figure. We will have to wait several years for another strong sign, that of the Inspiring Women collection, which includes Frida Kahlo, Amelia Mary Earhart, the mathematician Katherine Johnson , and the Italian Samantha Cristoforetti. Women of eras, origins, social extraction, education, ideals and dreams that are very different from each other, but all a symbol of resistance to conventions and innovation. While on the growing push of body positivity and inclusiveness, Barbie emerges who free themselves from the single model based on the vital measures of supermodels such as the very recent one with Down syndrome.

In a Barbie World: the true story of the most fashionable canister ever

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